Captain Tarzan and General Jane
by organanation
Summary: Han and Leia managed to dodge the bounty hunters, but now they are forced to spend the night in the jungle waiting for Chewie to come and get them...darkness falls, and the sounds of the wildlife start to spook them. Pre-ESB tropey fluff from our favorite space couple!


_AN:Thanks so much to amilynh for betaing!_

Han's eyes flicked to Leia. She didn't look frightened—that was what he liked about her in situations like this. Nobody could read her emotions. Of course, that made it a little hard to figure out what she was feeling when she was around him, and that frustrated Han to no—the bounty hunter shifted the knife against Han's neck and he stopped thinking about his love life for a minute.

"Say, Orion. Ain't that the little princess the Imps're after?" drawled the tall man behind Han.

"Hey, I think you're right, Alkaris. Offerin' lots for 'er, too. We could have some fun with 'er and bring 'er in." The other bounty hunter, a shorter, stockier man, was circling Leia with lust and hunger in his eyes and Han thought he might burst from the rage in his chest.

"Looks like she'll be easier to keep down than this one." Orion looked up at Han and tweaked the knife a bit against his throat, causing a thin line of blood to appear where blade met skin.

"Ok, Solo. Leave the girl with us, and you can be on your merry little way," Alkaris offered.

"Not a chance, Alkaris," Han spat quickly. "You've got me, now let her go."

"Well, it looks li—" the stocky, little man was cut off when Leia's boot met his cheek. Alkaris reeled and Orion turned quickly to help his boss. Han took advantage of the distraction, grabbed Leia's hand and took off running.

Leia threw a glance over her shoulder: the bounty hunters were still in hot pursuit.

"Do you trust me?" Han yelled. Leia gave him a wild glance, trying to figure out what he was going to do. She opened her mouth to answer, but he cut her off. "No time for arguments, sweetheart. Let's go!" He grabbed her arm and yanked hard to the left. They were now running along a bridge, parallel to a river that flowed away from the village and into the jungle.

"Jump!" he demanded. She didn't have time to think, just followed him blindly over the brick wall and plummeted down into the rushing water. Leia kicked madly, finally breaching the surface and sucking in a deep breath before a pair of hands pulled her back under the water. They'd been swept a considerable distance down the river, but pushed for the bank and crawled ashore, coughing, spluttering and spitting up mouthfuls of water.

"What in stars' name was that?!" Leia demanded, taking her hair in her hands and ringing gallons of nasty river water from it.

"Pulled you back under so they wouldn't see us. It worked, for your information. They went flying on by, out towards the lowlands. There are thousands of places we could be going out there; they'll be busy for a while," he said, slicking his soaked hair out of his face and sitting heavily on a rock. She had to admit that the plan made sense, but she certainly wasn't going to tell _him_ that.

"What if I couldn't swim?" she asked. He pulled one boot off and dumped the water out, replacing it before doing the same thing to the other boot.

" _Can_ you swim?"

"Yes, but…"

"No buts. It was the best option. Now, put this on," He ordered, throwing her his dripping jacket.

"No."

"Suit yourself." He gave a pointed glance down her body and she looked down quickly to see what he was referring to. The water had made her clothing not only very clingy, but also a bit see-through. She yanked the jacket on and zipped it, despite the fact that it was nearly 90 degrees.

"You are positively revolting," she bit.

"I really am," he agreed, pushing his hand into one of the pockets.

"Remove your hand this instant," she snapped. He withdrew quickly, holding his comm. link up as he raised his hands in defense.

"Stars, sister! I just saved you from something pretty _unpleasant_ back there. I know _mushy_ ain't really our thing, but you could be a _little_ grateful," he returned, not waiting for a response before punching a code into the comm.

Chewbacca's growls sounded a moment later, and Han explained the situation. The copilot said he had fake landing permits for early the next morning at the nearest space ports.

"We'll stay out there tonight," Han decided, pointing to the jungle. Leia agreed without argument, feeling a bit guilty for yelling at him after he'd been so willing to give himself over to the bounty hunters as long as they left her unharmed.

They followed the river a ways into the jungle until they were sure that they'd be safe, then set out through the trees to find a place to set up camp. Leia found a small place with few fallen logs and minimal leaflitter, and they had the space cleared reasonably in no time.

"There. Now all we have to do is survive until morning," Han declared as if their lives weren't hanging in the balance.

"That's only, what… 15 standard hours?" she asked.

"Don't sound too excited there, Princess."

"Oh, pardon me. I forgot what a _privilege_ it will be to spend the night in the jungle with you," she shot back.

"A night in the jungle with me is way better than anything those creeps were gonna cook up for you."

"I know."

"Come on, Your Worship. It'll be fun. We can sing songs and tell ghost stories and look at the stars," he teased.

"I'm sure we will see so much of the galaxy from the lower story of a jungle," Leia snarked. Han ignored her and pressed on with his little agenda.

"We might even have to cuddle. For warmth."

"Warmth? It's about a million degrees with 93% humidity!"

"You didn't say no," he pointed out smugly.

"Do not push me too far, Captain," she warned dangerously. He shot her a maddening smirk and headed off through the brush, returning a moment later with an armful of fallen branches and sticks. "What are you doing?" she asked as he knelt in the center of their little camp and began stacking the wood.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he shot back.

"It looks like you're building a fire, but we don't have anything to cook over it, and we already established that extra warmth will not be required."

"This fire's gonna be mighty welcome come nightfall, sweetheart. Lots of creatures out there that might not be friendly," Han explained. Leia shot a glance over her shoulder at the unknown reaches of the jungle. "And who says we don't have anything to cook over it?" he asked. "Try the middle pocket," he instructed, pointing to his jacket that was still draped around her like a big, wet blanket. She unsnapped the pocket he'd indicated and found a double-portion tin of rations. "Ain't much, but it'll get us through till morning."

"I highly doubt we'd starve if we didn't eat tonight."

"Probably not, but you skip enough meals as it is," Han replied. She dropped his gaze. "We'll wait to light it till it gets dark so no one sees the smoke from the village." They sat around the unlit pile of wood in awkward silence, waiting for the sun to go down. Han leaned against a tree, his head falling back and his eyes closing.

Leia took the opportunity to study him. The position of his head made the red marks on his neck even more prominent. He'd been so insistent that they leave her alone, so self-sacrificing. There'd been something in his grasp as he took her hand and led the way to the bridge…it made her feel both happy and terrified at the same time. She'd felt the same feeling when, behind his teasing, she'd heard real concern for her at what the bounty hunters were planning and the fact that she didn't always eat. She couldn't pull her eyes away from the cuts on his neck. That river water was pretty dirty…

"Okay, Mr. Prepared, do you happen to have an emergency medkit in that jacket?" she surprised herself by asking. Han's eyes cracked open a bit and the edges of his mouth curled upwards.

"It's _Captain_ Prepared, Your Worshipfulness. Try the left one," he instructed. She dug through the pocket and withdrew a small medpack. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"It's for your neck. The river was certainly not clean, and who knows what was on the blade. The last thing you want is an infection," she explained, kneeling in front of him.

Han tugged the collar of his shirt down and Leia sanitized her hands with an antiseptic wipe. She opened another to clean his neck, hesitating momentarily at the intimacy of her actions before pressing the cloth gently to the lines. He hissed at the contact, and Leia's eyes flicked up to his apologetically. When she was satisfied that it was clean, she opened the disposable tube of bacta and squeezed some onto her finger. She rubbed it gently into the abrasions and felt one of the knots in her stomach untighten when Han's flesh began to heal beneath her careful touch. She wiped the excess gel off on her pantleg and sat back.

"There. All better."

"Thanks," he rumbled.

"Thank _you_ for saving us," she responded. He cleared his throat, and they returned to silence.

When it was finally dark enough, Han rummaged through the pockets of his discarded jacket and retrieved a lighter. It took a few tries, but the small pile of logs was eventually burning bright and clear. Leia opened the tin of rations and punched out the two tiny utensils that came encased with it while Han heated the tin over the fire. They had no plates and only the two tiny utensils, so they sat close together to eat. Whatever it was, there wasn't much flavor, but it had proteins and vitamins and that was all that mattered.

Leia was glad for the fire when night fell. If the forest had been dark during the day, it was positively pitch black now. The sounds of the jungle were all around, and they were completely foreign to her. Han seemed not to mind too much, coming from Corellia, which had a similar climate and species population. Something grunted from just beyond their camp, and Leia's eyes snapped to Han.

"It's just a tormak. They're pretty harmless. They're nocturnal, wander around the jungle and find insects in the ground," he explained. "They're little, and they don't eat princesses." Leia rolled her eyes. The grunting animal moved along after a few minutes and Leia heard a faint scraping. "I think that's a Crustean. They like to sharpen their claws at the base of tree trunks," he explained nonchalantly.

"Do they…what do they eat?"

"Small things, mostly. It'd probably take a whole pack to get a human," he assured her, looking back to the stick of wood he was haphazardly carving with his knife. Leia slid toward him a few inches. "The real things you gotta watch out for are gearsmach. Like a bantha, but it eats meat. Those are definitely big enough to attack a human." Leia looked at him with wide eyes and didn't even try to hide that she moved closer.

Seconds later, something shrieked from deep in the jungle.

"Don't worry, Princess. It's not close." He held out his arm, inviting her nearer. Leia glanced at him for a moment and scooted closer. Something moaned from the woods and Leia jumped, instinctively moving even nearer.

"What was that?" she asked as his arm closed protectively around her back.

"That sounded like a garper. Planetary lore says they used to be sentient but were declassified after several attacks on nearby villages. They've been living wild ever since and evolving…" he said menacingly. She moved even closer, looking up at the surrounding trees.

"Really? Are they dangerous?"

"They were declassified for continually mauling other species, Leia. You tell me," he replied easily, holding her defensively. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I'll protect you."

"What do they look like?" she asked warily.

"They—well, they're kinda…" Han stumbled. Leia smacked his arm.

"You made them up!" she demanded as he started laughing. "You made them _all_ up, didn't you?"

"Tormaks are real," he defended.

"What did you expect to gain from that?"

"Okay, so I lied, but it sure put you in a snuggly mood real quick," he reasoned. Han felt something tickling his hand. Suddenly, he flinched and gave a pitchy shriek. "Kill it!" Leia swept the bush spider off Han's arm and tossed it into the plants.

"That thing was no bigger than a credit chip, Han," she laughed.

"The thing was crawlin' on _me_ , Your Worship. _I_ get to decide how big it was. It was big. Kriffin' huge," he insisted, jostling her playfully as she continued to laugh. Neither moved from their intimate position and Leia's eyes dropped to his lips. She could feel his breath on her skin when something let out a terrifying shriek.

"If the creatures don't exist, what is making that noise?" she whispered to him in a frightened voice.

"Just a bird, or somethin'," Han assured her quietly as they both looked into the dark jungle around them. When it had been quiet for a few minutes, Leia sat back and Han withdrew his arms.

"You don't happen to have a pillow in that jacket, do you?" she teased, covering a yawn. He settled against the tree and patted his shoulder.

"I'll behave myself, I promise," he assured her.

"I told you no cuddling."

"Alright. There's an anthill over there that might make a decent pillow. Or some leaves," he suggested.

"Fine, but I expect you to keep your hands from wandering," she demanded.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he promised. She settled into his side and his arm draped around her. True to his word, his hand stayed on the ground behind her. Han's masculine scent and even breathing lulled Leia to sleep before she'd even realized her eyes were closed.

He couldn't really see her face at this angle, but he was pretty sure she was asleep. He was getting stiff from sitting on the ground in the same position for so long, and his fingers started to tingle where they were rested on the ground behind her. All his troubles, though, were thrown from his mind when Leia spoke a single word in her sleep.

"Han…"

 _AN:Thanks for reading, please leave a review! Next week, we have some Fix-TFA!_


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